Medicare ‘Doughnut Hole’ Savings Average $801 In Some Areas Due To ACA Provision

AURORA, CO - MARCH 27: Pharmacy director Hank Wedemeyer takes a bottle of cholesterol-reduction medication while filling prescriptions at a community health center on March 27, 2012 in Aurora, Colorado. The center, called the Metro Community Provider Network, has received some 6,000 more Medicaid eligable patients since the healthcare reform law was passed in 2010. Expansion of such clinics nationwide is considered key to serving the millions more patients set to be be covered by Medicaid if the healthcare reform passes the current challenge in the Supreme Court. Preventative health services and treatments at community health centers are also designed to reduce emergency room expenditures, which are up to 10 times more costly. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

FDA Warns Doctors Of Fake, Contaminated Medicines In US (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

CHICAGO (AP) — Thousands of Illinois residents with high medication costs are seeing some gains from a provision of the Affordable Care Act.

The federal government announced figures earlier this week on how the law is closing the prescription drug “doughnut hole,” a spending level that isn’t covered by Medicare. The numbers include a breakdown by state.

The government says that during the first 10 months of 2013, nearly 115,000 Illinoisans who reached the coverage gap have saved an average of $801 per person.

The “doughnut hole” is the gap in the Medicare prescription drug benefit before catastrophic coverage for prescriptions takes effect. A provision in President Barack Obama’s health care law gradually closes the doughnut hole by giving Medicare beneficiaries discounts.